CARING SCIENCE WITHIN ISLAMIC CONTEXTS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

ABSTRACT: Caring is an essence
of nursing and many studies enlighten about caring for various populations and
settings. Caring science within Islamic contexts has gained more attention from
nurses, especially in the area related to cultural and spiritual care.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to discuss the concepts of caring
science within Islamic contexts.

Methods: We extracted 27 articles in both qualitative and quantitative
studies, inthe English language, based on PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for
Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) method. The date and years were limited
from January 2008 to 2014 from several databases. Keywordswere ‘caring
science’, ‘Islamic caring’, ‘and Islamic Perspectives’ and combined with words
of ‘Nursing’, ‘caring’, and ‘care’.

Conclusion: In Islamic nursing, caring is based on well-being improvement
and healing, and concentration on all domains of nursing care and relationship
between different dimensions of human (bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions).
Within these contexts, a better understanding of the diverse conceptualizations
of nursing is needed in order to ensure that nurses across all contexts can
provide optimal care.